Agape 2023: UST feasts in food and laughter
By: Arvin Dollosa, Morris Tan
Over 26,000 students gathered on campus last December 13 to celebrate the traditional Agape, dubbed the ‘Thomasian Christmas Feast’, preceded by a Paskuhan Mass as part of the university’s holiday festivities “Paskuhan 2023: Witnessing the Joy of Christmas”.
During the Eucharistic Celebration at the Plaza Mayor, Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., Ph.D. correlated the fireworks display to the angels' glorious lights as signs. "They are to draw attention to the main event [...] of the nativity, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ."
In his takeaway, Fr. Ang urged Thomasians to witness the genuine joy of Christmas with each other—which comes from the heart and soul of a person filled with grace and meaning despite enduring hardships.
The communal feast ensued shortly as students and alumni from various colleges lined up in designated stations to claim their free meals sponsored by Jollibee, Chowking, Aristocrat, and Max's, among others. Staple Filipino delicacies, such as sorbetes, taho, bibingka, and puto bumbong, were also offered for free to the attendees.
Distribution of food stubs stuck to a one-to-one basis, with only the verified holder of an official ID given access to claim their meal packs. A ‘carless day’ was also observed to avoid traffic and congestion in the university.
Termed as the highest manifestation of love and charity, Agape is a university-wide spread that commenced in 2011 during UST’s quadricentennial celebration.
The Christmas feast tradition is among the highlights of the annual Paskuhan events, followed by the highly anticipated Paskuhan Concert tomorrow, December 21.
